The FAO led project “Building responsible global value chains for the sustainable production and trade of tropical fruits”, also known as the Responsible Fruits Project, works with businesses, farmer organizations and other actors in the avocado and pineapple value chains. Its goal is to improve business performance by helping these two value chains be more sustainable and resilient.
The project team has now reached over 175 organizations, which have been participating in different activities including peer learning, working group sessions and technical discussions. The project team continues to support the private sector in the avocado and pineapple industries to address sustainability and resilience challenges, with a focus on those prioritized by project participants.
Project actions
New resilience component and activities
The project has officially started activities under a new component focused on strengthening the resilience of avocado and pineapple value chains. On 4 October 2022, a launch session was organized with private sector companies to introduce this new component and start discussions to identify the main issues businesses face vis-à-vis external shocks and stressors.
In October and November, the project conducted a detailed study to identify and understand the main resilience challenges faced by value chain actors. The study builds on the results gathered from the Baseline Survey conducted in 2021 and includes findings from new consultations with avocado and pineapple stakeholders participating in the project.
Capacity development
Due diligence: On 26 September 2022, the project team organized an event with the Tropical Fruits Network (TFNet) for companies based in Asia and Africa, to build understanding of why and how tropical fruit companies should carry out due diligence to reduce sustainability risk and increase resilience to shocks. FAO experts introduced the concept of due diligence; and explained how due diligence can help agribusinesses decrease sustainability risks and increase resilience to shocks and thereby improve their long-term economic performance. Examples of how companies carry out due diligence in practice were provided. Understanding due diligence is key to market access, managing a business for sustainability, and applying the Gap Analysis Guide.
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Source: fao.org